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Review: Black Art – Full Lungs | Empty Words

If you’re a regular reader of these pages, you probably must have noticed how deep we’re attached to the European hardcore scene. One of the most abundant emanates from England. There’s so much diversity and quality within the amount of UK bands lately, it’s always great to get to know some of them better. Here we are, with Full Lungs | Empty Words, from Gloucestershire, UK folks in Black Art. This quintet already delivered a few releases in the past few years, this 6-track EP already being their third plate. A triple distribution through Let Them Die Records in the UK, White Russian Records in the Netherlands and I For Us Records in Belgium should hopefully allow more people to get a little more familiar with this combo.

Musically, Black Art clearly claims their influences – even by taking their appellation from a song by defunct The Ghost of A Thousand – and brings us a blend of punk and hardcore with a hint of rock and ‘roll. Beyond the sonic similarities with some of their peers, these British ragers really strike with their new tracks filled with vicious riffs, well-crafted rhythms and gruff screams from frontman Joe Kibble.

Full Lungs | Empty Words is a record where silence and downtimes are limited, a record where our attention is captured within seconds by pounding drums and saturated bass rumbles. It congregates different inspirations that could easily delight any Gallows (early material), The Chariot or Cancer Bats. Sure, despite their resourceful compositions, there is no real revolution in the genre but by giving us their take on punk hardcore music, and with enough motivation and groove, these guys assert themselves from the rest. It’s fierce, it’s punchy and you’ll simply have to admit it works well.

Greatly produced and well performed, this new EP from Black Art is fairly exciting and will please chaotic riffs-enthusiasts and punk and roll aficionados. It should also permit this band to claim their place in such an opulent scene. The guys are looking into dates for their next European tour, so keep an eye out for the next opportunity to experience their bangers in the pit!